Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg Mortgage, which specialized in jumbo adjustable-rate mortgage loans for premium properties, announced on Wednesday that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will close its doors.

The New York Federal Reserve Bank purchased $32.9 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from government agencies this week. Total MBS purchases since the Fed program began in early January now stands at $303 billion.

The leaders of the world’s largest economies pledged $1 trillion to fight the global economic downturn at the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in London this week. President Obama committed $100 billion from the United States, but the investment must still be approved by Congress.

On May 1st, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is scheduled to take effect, mandating that all new loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comply with strict rules established to mitigate the risk assumed by the two GSEs.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on Thursday to discuss the financial viability of the government’s mortgage insurer the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). According to the Associated Press:http://www.

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on Thursday, showing that mortgage rates dropped again this week, hitting yet another record-breaking low for all loan products in the GSE’s study.

Venturis Capital, a New York-based independent, multi-strategy private real estate investment firm, has announced the launch of its first private equity fund intended solely for investing in and restructuring distressed real estate.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a California-based provider of residential mortgage insurance and credit enhancement products to expand homeownership, released its first quarter 2009 Economic and Real Estate Trends Report and U.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I) announced this week that it is extending its foreclosure moratorium through June 30, 2009. M&I’s initial 90-day moratorium was announced on December 18, 2008, as part of the lender’s Homeowner Assistance Program.

The new year didn’t change the downward spiral of residential real estate prices, according to the home price data released on Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). Data through January 2009 from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, reveals continued broad-based declines in the values of existing single family homes across the United States, with 13 of the 20 metro areas tracked showing record rates of annual decline, and 14 reporting declines in excess of 10 percent.